| The Greenville News & Independent Mail
Observation: The coronavirus outbreak is a rapidly developing event and this story contains information that has only been updated through June 11, 2020. Some of the information here may have changed due to the nature of the pandemic; updates are reflected in more current stories. For news about the coronavirus outbreak and its impact in South Carolina, visit greenvillenews.com or independentmail.com.
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Jury judgments can be pushed down or later
South Carolina jury trials are postponed due to the coronavirus, but they may start again in the fall or later, Marcia Barker, spokeswoman for the 13th Circuit Law Firm, told The Greenville News.
Courts across the state have been operating with limited capacity since March, with many hearings held remotely or with fewer people being allowed into the courts.
As of Monday, more questions unrelated to the jury can be asked in person if it is reasonably safe, court president Donald Beatty said in a recent memo. State courts will schedule times so that multiple hearings or personal appearances are not at the same time.
Greenville County Council will meet to receive money from the CARES Act after secret meetings have been revealed
The meetings, an entire meeting committee at 3:30 pm and a full County Council meeting immediately thereafter, were scheduled hours after Greenville News published a story that revealed secret meetings that council members have had with county officials since the early May to prepare a spending plan for the money.
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DHEC: Antibody tests will be reported separately
The state Department of Health and Environmental Control is changing the way it reports antibody test data and the percentage of COVID-19 positive cases.
The results of the antibody tests will no longer be used to calculate the percentage of positive results from the COVID-19 test, which will cause the percentage of positive cases to increase, DHEC officials said during a conference call on Thursday. The results of the antibody tests were not included in the number of confirmed cases.
Antibody tests for COVID-19 indicate whether a person has had a previous COVID-19 infection. The tests are carried out by private laboratories. “They are less reliable in determining whether someone is infected and should not be used as the only test to make a current diagnosis of COVID-19,” says the DHEC website. “We don’t know whether a positive antibody test as a result of a previous infection offers any protection against a second infection.”
As of June 10, a total of 265,351 tests for COVID-19, including 27,609 antibody tests, were reported in South Carolina.
Doctor warns that COVID-19 has spread to younger populations in Greenville County
As COVID-19 cases reached a new daily high on Thursday in South Carolina, medical experts in Greenville urged upstate “hot spot” residents to take the disease seriously by wearing masks and following the recommendations of social distancing.
“This is a very real problem,” said Dr. C. Wendell James III, clinical director at Prisma Health – Upstate. “This is not fiction.”
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South Carolina schools have options to open in the fall on AccelerateEd recommendations
A panel recommended three schedule models for reopening schools in South Carolina based on different projections of the spread of coronavirus in the fall, but the models may change based on guidelines from the state Department of Health and Environmental Control.
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DHEC Announces New Daily Case Record
The state Department of Health and Environmental Control today announced 687 new cases of COVID-19 in South Carolina, according to Laura Renwick, a DHEC spokesman.
This is a new daily record number of cases.
The daily total includes 125 new cases and two deaths in Greenville County.
This raises the statewide total to 16,441 since the pandemic began.
Initial unemployment claims increase for the first time in weeks
After several weeks with a downward trend, initial unemployment claims increased in the week from May 31 to June 6.
22,734 people filed their initial claim for unemployment insurance last week, according to new figures from the Department of Employment and Workforce. This is an increase of 3,748 over the previous week.
More than 580,000 initial complaints have been made in the past 12 weeks, according to DEW data.
Greenville County water parks to reopen next week
Greenville County water parks will reopen on Monday, June 15.
Discovery Island, Otter Creek and 7th Inning Splash were closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Bob Mihalic, a spokesman for Greenville County, said the county’s recreation department spent weeks preparing the team to interact responsibly with customers as well as modify the facility’s configuration and operation.
Greenville County Council meets in secret to plan COVID’s $ 91 million federal aid spending
Greenville County has received more than $ 91 million in federal aid related to COVID-19 since late April and has taken only minimal steps to obtain public contributions on a spending plan for money that was developed by county officials at closed doors.
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Here’s what to know Thursday
- During a press conference, Governor Henry McMaster and state epidemiologist Dr. Linda Bell urged people to take serious precautions against the virus after a recent spike in new cases. McMaster said the state has no plans to close deals and asked state lawmakers to allocate $ 500 million to the state’s unemployment fund.
- The SC Upstate Health Care Coalition is continuing its free trials for the Upstate community at the Greenville Convention Center this week. The tests are available to everyone – no appointment is necessary. The test site is open from 9 am to 4 pm during the week and from 9 am to 2 pm on Saturday this week.
- State health officials announced on Wednesday 528 new cases of the new coronavirus COVID-19 and seven more deaths. A total of 15,759 people tested positive for the virus and 575 people with COVID-19 died.